Slidable rip fence mounting



y 1954 w. L. ('IEASKELL SLIDABLE RIP FENCE MOUNTING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Dec. 8, 1951 INVENTOR. M472 ,4 ads/Fez! Patented May 4, 1954UNITED STATES PTENT OFFICE SLIDABLE RIP FENCE MOUNTING Walter L.Gaskell, Ypsilanti, Mich, assignor to King-Seeley Corporation, AnnArbor, Mich, a

corporation of Michigan 10 Claims. 1

This invention relates to fence constructions of the type used withmachine tools such as arbor saws, band saws, and the like.

It is the purpose of the invention to provide a fence construction thatis especially adapted for use with machine tools of the type found inthe home workshop, that is, a fence construction which can beinexpensively manufactured on a mass production basis and yet whichproperly serves its functional purpose of accurately positioningworkpieces.

The invention accomplishes this objective by the use of parts which canbe readily die cast or otherwise inexpensively produced and which areconnected together in such a fashion that they can be adjusted relativeto each other even though operatively assembled together. Thus, a finefinal adjustment insuring absolute accuracy of alignment can be madeafter the fence construction has been mounted on the machine tool. Iheinvention also provides a novel slide construction which preventscanting and binding of the fence when it is moved on the table.

Objects and features of the invention are shown in the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention andwherein:

Figure l is a longitudinal section through a fence embodying theinvention, parts thereof being broken away;

Fig. 1A is a section taken on line IAIA of Fig. 1 to show sawdust escapereliefs in the front of the table;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the actuating end of the fence constructionwith parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the actuating end of the fence construction astaken from the righthand side of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross section taken on line I4 of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 5 (Sheet 1) is a cross section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2; v V

Fig. 6 is a cross section taken on line 65 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 (Sheet 2) is a view of a modified form of the rear end of thefence construction and is similar to the left-hand end of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a cross section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 9 is a cross section taken on the line 99 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a cross section through aportion of the slide showing adifferent type of structural interconnection; and- Fig. 11 is a sectiontaken on line II-II of Fig. 10.

A table top I, such as may be used with circular saws, band saws, andvarious other machine tools, is shown in the drawings to illustrate themode of attachment of the present fence construction. The table I has avertical front edge 3 and a vertical rear edge 5 and a top surface I onwhich the workpieces would be laid.

The fence construction includes the elongated fence or rip gauge IIwhich is preferably a hollow casting having a closed top and closedvertical sides joined by transverse ribs IS. The rearmost rib extends aslight distance out of the open bottom to rest on the surface I of thetable and support the fence thereon and, with the front support, gives aslight clearance between the main body of the bar and table to permiteasy sliding. Mounted within the bar and also on the front end of thebar II are elements for clamping it in a desired position on the table Iand for insuring its proper alignment with the front of the table andpreventing lagging of one end of the fence bar during adjustment of thebar.

A structure for accomplishing the purposes just mentioned includes ashoe I d that has a rounded toe I'I engaging the rear face 5 of thetable I. The shoe I5 is slidably mounted on a longitudinal rod I9 whichslides in suitable apertures 2! formed in the ribs I3 and in the closedfront end 23 of the bar I I. The rear end of the rod I9 is threaded inand supported by an adjusting nut 25 which, in turn, slides in anaperture 21 formed in the closed rear end 29 of the bar I I. The shoe I5is pressed against the front face of the nut 25 by a spring 3i mountedon the rod I9 which is confined between the rear face of a web I3 andthe front face of the shoe I5. It is evident that axial adjustments ofthe shoe l5 relative to the rod I9 can be obtained by turning the nut25. The shoe I5 is prevented from rotating on the rod I9 by virtue of afork or slot 33 formed therein which slida'bly receives a vertical rib35 formed within the bar II. See Fig. 6.

A modified form of shoe construction is shown in Figs. 7-9 wherein theshoe member 37 is piv-' oted by a pin 39 to a lug 4i formed on the bar II. In this arrangement, the spring 3! bears upon a rib I3 and upon awear plate "13 on the front face of the shoe 3! to urge a spherical seaton the 41 in the shoe and through a slot 45 in the rib l3. As willbecome evident hereinafter, the slotted head 45 enables the rod IE! tobe rotated and by virtue of a threaded connection at its front end, thiswill cause the rod IE to move axially relative to the pivot point 39 ofthe shoe 31 thus enabling the toe 5| of the shoe 31 to be relaxed orpressed harder against the rear face 5 of the table I. The shoe 3! has aboss 38 formed on one side thereof and opposite to the boss is a screw(Figs. 8 and 9) which threads into the shoe. The boss 38 and screw head40 engage the side walls II of the fence bar and obviously slack or sidesway can be eliminated by adjustment of the screw 40.

The front end of the rod I9 (or E9) is threaded into and carries a pivotpin 53 (Fig. l) which therefore moves axially with the bar [9. Journaledon the ends of the pivot pin 53 are the bifurcations 55 of the operatinglever 51, the lever 51 having a hand grip portion 59 extendingsubstantially at right angles to the bifurcated portion The rear ends ofthe bifurcations 55 constitute cam surfaces 6i having a maximum radiusfrom the axis of the pin 53 when the hand grip portion 59 is in asubstantially vertical position as shown in Fig. 1. It will beappreciated that the cam surfaces 6i therefore force the rod l9 to bewithdrawn out of the front of the bar H to a maximum distance when thehand grip portion 59 is in the downward position shown in Fig. 1. Thisresults in the front face of the nut 25 forcing the shoe l5 against therear face 5 of the table i. In the modified form shown in Figs. 7-9, thevertical position of the hand gri portion 58 of the operating lever 5'1results in the shoulder of head 45 pivoting the shoe 3? tightly againstthe rear face 5 of the table 1. Thus, the fence is clamped to the tableI when the lever is in the position shown in Fig. 1. When the lever 57is lifted about its pivot pin 53, the spring 5i will act on the shoes IEor 31 to urge the rod it rearwardly as the cam surfaces 6| of lesserradius engage wear plate 63 attached to the front of the rear side 23.This rearward movement of the rod i9 allows the pressure of the shoes onthe rear face of the table I to be relaxed so that the fence isunclamped from the table. .i

The front end of the fence H is guided by and may be supported on thefront face 3 of the table i. For this purpose, a guide bar 65, whichextends from side to side of the table and parallel to the direction ofadjusting movement of the fence H, is attached to the face 3 by screws5? which thread into the table I. The screws 6'1 pass through apertures59 in the guide bar which, it will be observed, are larger than thestems of the screws so that a certain amount of adjustment of the barscan be made in assernbly. The guide bar 65 has an upwardly and forwardlyprojecting lip H which defines an inclined way '13. wardly projectingnose with an inclined surface Ti that fits on and slides on the way 73.The rear end "it of the slide i5 is flat and bears against the face 3 ofthe table I. Thus, the slide 15 is confined between the front face 3 ofthe table and the way 73 of the guide bar 65. The slide E5 is, ofcourse, of sufficient length to insure stability of the fence. It isevident that the taper of the surfaces 13 and 11 in conjunction with theoversized holes 69 permit adjustments to be made in assembly whichinsure a tight sliding fit of the member 15 on the front edge of thetable. The reliefs E8 in the front edge 3 of the A slide member 15 has adown--' table I prevent sawdust from accumulating on the guide bar 65since it may pass through the reliefs and drop out from underneath thetable top or be caught in a suitable trap (not shown).

The front end of the bar H is mounted on and carried by the slide 15.For this purpose, the front edge 23 is turned forward at a right angleat the bottom thereof to form a horizontal section 8! that lies aboveand may rest on the slide '15, the forward end of the section 8| beingformed with a downwardly extending flange 83 which is spaced slightly tothe front of the front face 85 of the slide 15. The section 8! of thefence bar ii is secured to the slide 15 by screws 8'! which thread intothe slide 15. It will be observed that the screws 81 pass throughoversized holes 89 in the section 8| so that adjustment of the fence barrelative to the slide can take place.

Such adjustment occurs about a predetermined axis and is regulated byadjustment means so that there is no slack in the connection between thebar ii and the slide 55. The axis for this adjustment is the axis of asemi-circular projection 2! (Fig. 4) which is cast on the top surface ofthe slide 15 and slides in a semi-circular slot 93 formed in the sectionill of the fence bar. The adjustment about the axis of the projection SMis regulated by screws 95, one of which is located on each side of theaxis and threaded in suitable pads 91 formed on the flange 83 of the barii, the screws 9'5 bearing on the front face of the slide 15. Thisadjustment about the axis of projection 9! enables the fence bar II tobe squared with a typical mitre slot 99 in the table top or adjusted atan angle thereto.

Upward movement of the front end of the fence, such as might cause it torise above the table is prevented by engagement of a small area of theroller It! with the underside of the guide bar lip ii. The roller it!has an upwardly extending stem IE3 which is slidably and rotatablymounted in an aperture I05 in the slide and which extends through anaccommodating aperture of 3 suitable size in the section 8! of the fencebar ll. The stem N73 has a head Hill formed on its top end which servesas a backing for the coil spring H39, the other end of which bears uponthe surface of section 81 (or if the accommodating aperture is ofsufiicient size it bears on the surface of slide It will be seen thatthe spring we urges the roller iOi upwardly into contact with the bottomof the lip 1|. Since the roller is free to rotate, it does not interferewith transverse adjusting movement bodily of the fence il.

In order to lift the fence from the table 1, the handle 5? is lifted.The roller i9! and its stem head iii? are located beneath the camsurface 6|. Hence, lifting of the lever 51 will cause the surfaces iiito press downwardly on the head I01 to compress spring I69 thus drivingthe roller l0! downwardly out of contact with the lip TI. This movementalso releases the pressure on the rear shoe it as already described.Hence, by a slight tilting of the fence so that the rear end is raisedabove the front end, the fence construction H along with the connectedslide 75 may be removed from the table and its attached guide bar 55.Flats H3 formed on the cam surfaces 6| will engage the wear plate 63when the arm 51 is lifted to enable the spring 3i to hold the arm 5'? inelevated position.

It will now be recognized that the invention provides a fenceconstruction that is especially well adapted to mass productiontechniques. The various parts can be readily die cast and the variousadjustments eliminate the need for close dimensional tolerances inmanufacture. At the same time, these adjustments permit a fine controlof the al gnment of the fence bar ll about all three axes. Adjustmentwith screws 95 is about a vertical axis. Adjustment with screws 81 ofthe guide bar is about a horizontal axis generally parallel to the axisof bar 19. Raising or lowering of the guide bar 65 by virtue ofadjustment with the screws it? as well as raising or lowering of the barH with respect to the slide 35 through the medium of screws 8'! permitadjustment about a horizontal axis which is at right angles to the axisof the rod l9, i. -e., parallel to the front and rear edges 3.Furthermore, the oversize holes permit simple shifting of the variousparts relative to each other.

Instead of the semi-circular projection 9|, the slide 75 may have acircular boss H3 fitting in a circular hole l [5 in the flange Bl asshown in Figs. 10 and 11. This arrangement obviously permits the slideto be adjusted angularly relative v to the bar ll.

It will be evident that the structure described herein is disclosed byway of illustration, and that the invention may be embodied in modifiedforms. It will also be apparent that certain conventional expedientssuch as the use of washers or shims has been omitted from the abovedescription for the sake of simplicity.

What is claimed is:

1. A fence construction for machine tool tables or the like comprising aguide bar for attachment to the table and adapted to extend parallel tothe desired direction of movement of the fence, a slide mounted on theguide bar, a fence bar mounted on the slide, a rod slidably mounted inthe fence bar and extending from front to rear thereof, a shoe mountedat the rear of the fence bar, means connecting said shoe to the rodwhereby forward movement of the rod moves said shoe forwardly, springmeans acting to press the shoe and rod rearwardly, the forward end ofthe rod projecting forwardly of the front face of the bar, an operatinglever mounted on the forward end of the rod, said operating lever havinga cam face engageable with the front end of the bar whereby movement ofthe lever about its mounting on the rod causes axial movement of therod, said guide bar being open on top to receive said slide and having atapered upwardly presenting face defining a way, said slide having atapered face slidable on said way and a rear face adapted to engage thefront face of the table on which the fence construction is mounted, theslide being confined between said front face and said way.

2. The invention set forth in claim '1 wherein said guide bar has aforwardly projecting lip located outwardly of said tapered face and saidslide and bar including a retaining member engaging said lip to retainthe fence and bar on said guide bar.

3. The invention set forth in claim 2 wherein said retaining member isoperatively connected to said operating lever and moved thereby awayfrom said lip whereby the member may be disconnected from said lip byactuation of the lever.

4. The invention set forth in claim 3 wherein said retaining membercomprises a roller engaging said lip and slidably and rotatably mountedon said slide and spring means urging said retaining member into contactwith said lip.

5. A fence construction for machine tools or the like having a tablecomprising a guide bar having attaching holes therein, screws of lessersize than said holes extending therethrough and threaded into the tablefor .adjustably securing I the guide bar to the table, a slide mountedon the top of said guide bar, said slide and guide bar having aninclined surface extending downwardly and inwardly from the top of theguide bar to provide a wedge interconnection whereby the slide ispressed snugly against the front of the table, a fence constructionincluding a bar extending from front to rear of the table andtransversely to the guide bar and having a flange section overlying theslide, a cylindrical segment formed on the slide and projecting into acylindrical surface formed in said fence section to provide a verticalaxis of adjustment of the fence relative to the slide, and screws oneither side of said axis and bar extending through oversized holes insaid flange section and threaded into the slide.

6. The invention set forth in claim 5 including a flange depending fromsaid fence section and spaced adjacent to the front face of said slide,screws threaded in said flange on opposite sides of said pivotal axisand bearing on the front face of the slide to maintain a selectedrelative position of the bar and slide about said axis.

7. In a fence construction for a table having a vertical face, thecombination of a horizontally extending guide bar secured to saidvertical face and having an inclined surface extending upwardly and awayfrom said face, said face and surface defining an upwardly openingguideway, a fence construction including a bar extending substantiallynormally to said face and a slide portion extending horizontally onopposite sides of the front end of said fence construction and of thebar, said slide portion carrying the weight having a tapered surface anda vertical surface slidably engaging said guide bar inclined surface andsaid vertical face and transferring said weight thereto.

8. In a fence construction for a table having a vertical edge and ahorizontal working surface, the combination of means providing ahorizontal guideway at one edge of said surface, said guideway beingwedge-shaped and defined by a vertical face extending perpendicularly tosaid working surface and by an inclined face extending upwardly awayfrom said vertical face, said guideway being open on top, said guidewaybeing located on the side of said table opposite to said vertical edgeand being parallel thereto, a fence bar extending across said tablesurface and having a downwardly projecting section at one end abuttingonly said vertical edge, the other end of said fence bar having adownwardly projecting section simultaneously movably resting againstboth said vertical and inclined faces, and means for selectively movingsaid fence sections toward each other to clamp them against saidvertical edge and vertical face.

9. In a fence construction for a table having a vertical face, thecombination of a horizontally extending guide bar secured to saidvertical face and having an inclined surface extending upwardly and awayfrom said face, said face and surface defining an upwardly openingguideway, a fence construction including a bar extending substantiallynormally to said face and a slide portion extending horizontally onopposite sides of the bar, said slide portion carrying the weight of thefront end of said fence construction and having a tapered surface and avertical surface slidably engaging said guide bar inclined surface andsaid vertical face and transferring said weight thereto, said guide barhaving a horizontal lip projecting outwardly from said inclined surface,and a retainer carried by said slide and rotatable about a vertical axisand engaging the bottom of said lip to hold the slide in said guideway.

10. The invention set forth in claim 7 wherein said guide bar hasapertures therein, screws of smaller diameter than said aperturesextending therethrough and threaded into the vertical face of the table.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Bemis June 4, 1912 Tautz Jan. 27, 1931 Tautz Dec. 5, 1933Merrigan Mar. 5, 1935 Hedgpeth Mar. 30, 1937 Hedgpeth Dec. 7, 1937Musselman Sept. 5, 1950 Modderman June 12, 1951 Van Dam et a1 July 31,1951

